<p>So what is the general consensus on the effect of W courses on the transcript and their effect on admissions?</p>
<p>I've been wondering this too. I've never been able to find the exact calculation used, but generally I've just been told that W's will have an adverse impact on your GPA. What I'm curious is if "adverse" is as adverse as an F, or maybe as adverse as a C.</p>
<p>A W doesn't have an impact on your GPA. A pattern of Ws, however, can look bad. In other words, if you dropped one or two classes total it won't really have much of an impact. If you dropped one or two or more classes every semester, then it looks bad. It looks like you don't know your own limitations, which is never a good thing.</p>
<p>Honestly, I really do not think they care much at all about W's. It is pretty much irrelevent. Don't worry about it, it is much better to W than to fail. I think the only time it matters is if you withdraw from too many classes at the very end of your academic career (junior and senior year). But I mean like 5 or something in two semesters.</p>
<p>They really could care less about W's unless, as the person said above, there is a pattern.</p>
<p>I called some law schools, and most of them said that 1. They look at later grades more than earlier grades (in college) and 2. They don't think much if there are 1 or 2 w's on the transcript.</p>